Defense attorney Bill Redden submitted a motion to continue – a request to postpone the trial date. A continuance is typical particularly in a Measure 11 case, where attorneys may be waiting on forensic evidence and further investigation after the arrest.

In Abinacer's Thursday hearing, there was just one problem:

"I've been here 57 days," he told the judge. "I do not waive my constitutional right to a trial within 60 days, your honor."

Judge Thompson corrected him. The 60-day rule is actually a statutory right, not a constitutional right, she said, though perhaps it didn't make any difference to him. (The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to speedy trial, while the state constitution offers the right to justice without delay. Oregon law specifies that further.)

And going to trial so soon, she told him, before attorneys on both sides had finished preparing, might not be a good idea.

"Going to trial within 60 days is, within my estimation, not in your best interest," she said.

Her words didn't sway the defendant. He wouldn't waive his "speedy trial rights," which in local courthouse shorthand refers to Oregon's 60-day custody limit.

In many serious felony cases, the defense needs more than 60 days to receive all the evidence, investigate and prepare its own case. Thus, the need for in-custody defendants to waive their right to a trial within 60 days of arrest. Consenting to a waiver to these rights is common in such cases.

But Abinacer had been here 57 days. By his count, he need only spend 60 waiting for trial.

It was not possible for Abinacer's attorney to be ready to defend him by Tuesday, Thompson said. She turned to an Oregon law that says the court may delay a trial past 60 days based upon "good cause." In this case, under state law, that cause was: "The attorney for the defendant cannot reasonably be expected to try the case within the 60-day period." (For details, see Oregon Revised Statute 136.295(4)(b)(C).)

Thompson said to Abinacer: "Your request, I believe, is unreasonable."